There are no good braces that would allow you to skydive and help prevent a further dislocation.

There are plenty of really good quality and very, very expensive braces available, but the whole point of them is that they stop you putting your shoulder into positions of weakness. Therefore you could not wear them as you need to put your shoulder into many of the worst positions possible when skydiving thus negating their actual purpose.

This is half the problem, the boxman, the reach for the pull, grip taking on exits, arms up to fly your canopy and flaring are all the worst possible positions for a shoulder injury.

Trust me, you better do your physio like your life depends on it. Physio and core stretch/strength work is the only answer. This is what separates the men from the boys and shows who really is dedicated to a full and quick recovery.

Might be worth talking to a physio who is also a skydiver and asking whether taping would help. It wouldn't provide the protection that a brace does, but it can absorb some of the sudden stress on a muscle so it might provide a degree of protection by helping the muscles which support the joint.

I've found taping useful for a knee injury, but that wasn't a skydiving one and I'm not a physio, so ask someone who knows what they're talking about to find out if it would be worthwhile.

forget braces, taping is the way to go! only problem would be to get a physio who knows his shit and uses K-Tapes (elastic!) or something similar, that gives you support but doesn't hinder your movement. do NOT use non-flexible tapes. plus: get specific exercise from/with a physio NO weights and stuff on your own, you'll ruin more than you will know

Ask your physician if you can begin strengthening your rotator cuff muscles. If so, ask for physical therapy or do some research and start strengthening then yourself! These muscles assist with keeping your shoulder in place, if you strengthen them it should help. Also, with the approval of your doc do some Range of motion exercises, do not let your shoulder freeze up on you, if you keep it in that sling too long you will lose a lot of your range. Before anything be certain your doc approves of what you are doing.

As was said above, no brace is going to 100% prevent a dislocation, but this one assists the ligaments in doing their job. I had surgery after my third dislocation, followed by lots of PT and then I jumped this brace for the following year and that worked well for me.

Ask your physician if you can begin strengthening your rotator cuff muscles. If so, ask for physical therapy or do some research and start strengthening then yourself! These muscles assist with keeping your shoulder in place, if you strengthen them it should help. Also, with the approval of your doc do some Range of motion exercises, do not let your shoulder freeze up on you, if you keep it in that sling too long you will lose a lot of your range. Before anything be certain your doc approves of what you are doing.

I would be very wary of asking a general practitioner anything about this. An orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist or physical therapist would be a much better option.

My question is... when I'm finally fit and ready to return would it be beneficial to wear a shoulder brace?

The emphasis should be on FIT & READY.... Not on supportive braces or tape. You need to be WAY MORE than just "ready". Your shoulder needs to be VERY stable. Your Physical Therapist needs to understand the demands that skydiving will place on your shoulder and be confident that your shoulder is truly ready.

Consider this... Reaching for your BOC handle is NOT the most stressful thing that can happen to your shoulder in freefall. Bad exits can be MUCH worse. Bumping the doorframe in a diver exit can be MUCH worse.

You were probably flying a big, slow canopy which was forgiving of your one-armed control. Next time you may be under a smaller, faster, more fickle canopy...which may be dangerous to land one-handed.

As was said above, no brace is going to 100% prevent a dislocation, but this one assists the ligaments in doing their job. I had surgery after my third dislocation, followed by lots of PT and then I jumped this brace for the following year and that worked well for me.

That looks like the brace a fellow demo team member 'usually' wears...and wishes he had on this past weekend.

He & I were jumping an airshow on the left coast, a slammer opening started the chain of events.

He's had a few under canopy dislocations before and wearing the brace seemed to take care of the problem...but he left it off Friday.

The harsh opening trashed whatever was still holding the shoulder together. . . always the professional he dropped the flag and flew it in one handed.

He couldn't flare the landing and slammed in feet, knees & face...we spent the next 6 hours in the ER trauma.

He's done until he goes through surgery and extensive rehab...but all things considered, it could have ended much worse.

This is one tough, quite experienced jumper that I hold the highest respect for, however after seeing that... I personally would give some serious thought before jumping with a physical impairment that has such a real possibility of rendering one unable to perform even the basics required to survive.

It does bring up an important point that if you have the slightest doubt that you may experience a dislocation in the air, you should plan, modify and practice EPs and flaring for such an eventuality.

For non-elliptical canopies I would (have) flare with both toggles in one hand. For a wing that is more sensitive about the roll axis I would (have) plane it out on the rears and slide it in. In my experience you still have enough range of movement to pull a rear down enough to plane out even with a full dislocation.

It does bring up an important point that if you have the slightest doubt that you may experience a dislocation in the air, you should plan, modify and practice EPs and flaring for such an eventuality.

For non-elliptical canopies I would (have) flare with both toggles in one hand. For a wing that is more sensitive about the roll axis I would (have) plane it out on the rears and slide it in. In my experience you still have enough range of movement to pull a rear down enough to plane out even with a full dislocation.

Not necessarily, my buddy had absolutely NO range of movement with the dislocated shoulder, it was quite severe and he couldn't raise it above his waist.

His was so far out of place that when they couldn't put it back in after two tries they knocked him out and TWO docs went to work on him...

Not necessarily, my buddy had absolutely NO range of movement with the dislocated shoulder, it was quite severe and he couldn't raise it above his waist.

His was so far out of place that when they couldn't put it back in after two tries they knocked him out and TWO docs went to work on him...

That does somewhat limit your options. I had to climb my hand up the riser to get it there, but I was able to reduce my own dislocations after landing. The head of my humerus was under the skin in the over my mid-pectoral region!

I guess you're right that it's best to plan as though that limb is totally unserviceable.

OK I'm not a rigger but why couldn't the hackey be moved to the other side? Seems a simple enough thing for you and instructor to over come.

Like the guy above me said, it can pretty easily be moved to the other side, with a master rigger could even be converted to a ripcord deploy system... The problem is, the rest of the skydive can knock it out too.